Español
Recycle your dryer lint and used cooking oil into something practical by making these easy, no-wax, dryer lint fire starters, a green alternative to the chemical laden fire starters sold at stores.
Electricity here in Spain is crazy expensive. It’s not that the electricity itself is that much more expensive, or maybe it is, but what makes a huge difference is the fact that around half of our electric bill is made up of taxes. (They must tax wherever they can to try to keep up the salaries of the excessive number of politicians in office, I guess.) Plus, I live in an area of Spain that never really gets snow and the houses just aren’t prepared for the cold; there is no central heating, no natural gas, at least not where I live.
Up until a couple of years ago, we basically have relied on a couple of small air conditioning/heating units set up at key places in the home, like our living room and our bedrooms. It’s much too expensive for us to heat up more than one or two rooms at a time, though.
I’ve always joked about just wanting to hibernate the winter away. I hate the cold, and am miserable when I have to get up and make something in the cold kitchen, the place where I love spending time the rest of the year. And, must I mention how I want to cry every time I have to go into the freezing bathroom and sit on the cold toilet?
We’ve been looking into ways to heat our home a bit more economically, and about 5 years ago installed an efficient iron fireplace. I should mention that wood is also a lot more expensive than it was back home in the states, but we’ve been pretty good about finding and using discarded wood to fuel our fire. Everything from the wood I get from pruning the trees in our garden, to old, broken pallets, and scrap lumber projects all end up making their way to our fireplace. My husband also occasionally finds big logs in his fishing net when at work. Go figure!
Starting a good fire
I’m pretty good at starting fires, if I do say so myself. I used to be a camp counselor, and we each had to start our own campfires to cook lunch with the kids. In fact, I got so good at it that I remember being called to one of the boys’ campsites one year to help their counselor start their campfire after he failed miserably, much to the dismay of his boys. 😉
I think the trick is to go slow and add in small sticks first, leaving room for air, and then slowly building the fire up with progressively larger logs.
While I do like the challenge of starting my fire without the help of any additives, when I’m cold and cranky I just want to get the fire started as quickly as possible. That’s where a good fire starter comes in handy!
At first, I made the egg carton dryer lint fire starters whose tutorials can be found floating all over the internet. If you haven’t seen them, they basically consist of cardboard egg cartons with each section filled with dryer lint, and covered with melted wax. Once the wax cools and sets, you cut out each section and you have your fire starters ready.
The egg carton dryer lint fire starters have the advantage of being mostly waterproof. They have a lot of disadvantages, though!
I find them messy and a bit of a pain to make. I’m not good about not getting wax all over the place, and my hands get sore from trying to cut out all of the waxed egg carton compartments.
Worse yet, though, they take up a lot of room!
Add to all of that the fact that wax getting expensive and a lot of people are concerned about using regular wax these days, so they are switching to soy candles or beeswax, both being a bit pricey for something like this. I’m personally not that concerned about it in this sort of project, but it’s still nice that you can avoid it if you want!
Instead, why not recycle your old cooking oil to make these easy, no-wax dryer lint fire starters?
I couldn’t make the old egg carton fire starters anymore after getting hens and not needing to buy eggs. I no longer had any egg cartons to use, so I started another popular method, using the lint in old toilet paper rolls and pouring wax over that. Unfortunately, I found that method even messier and more annoying than the egg carton one. 😛 Plus, I started running out of old candles to use, and I realized how expensive wax was getting!
That’s when I started experimenting with other ways to keep the dryer lint burning for long enough to start the fire.
Dryer lint is perfect for starting fires because it is ignites easily, but it needs something to keep it burning.
Oil makes a perfect fuel. Dryer lint makes a perfect wick.
Why not make your fire starters from completely recycled things that you were going to throw away anyway, like dryer lint and used cooking oil?
This is upcycling at its best. Don’t ya think?
Watch how I use the dryer lint fire starters to start a fire in this video:
Ready to make some no-wax dryer lint fire starters?
Materials
- dryer lint
- used cooking oil
- glass jar
Instructions
- Pack dryer lint into a small glass jar. You can fill it to the top, or do this in layers, making it easier to saturate all of your lint with oil.
- Pour some oil over the dryer lint, adding enough to fully wet all of it. I've found that the best way to get the oil dispersed throughout is to press on the lint and oil until the oil spreads throughout the entire jar. Keep adding layers of lint and oil until your jar is full, or until you have used up all of your materials.
- You now have your dryer lint fire starters ready! It's easy as that!
- To use your fire starter, pull off a small piece of oiled dryer lint and ignite it. It should burn for long enough to help you start your fire!
Why do I love these no wax dryer lint fire starters?
I hate buying fire starters that are full of potentially toxic chemicals. Plus, I never know what to do with used cooking oil or dryer lint. Now, I can use them in a practical way!
By making this and storing it in a cute jar on your mantle, these fire starters are much more attractive to keep around than the old egg carton fire starters. They take up a lot less room, and are much quicker and easier to make!
DIY Wool Dryer Balls
»
Tamara
Would it be safe to use the cooking oil on an outdoor fire in the mountains where there are bears?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Tamara,
I’m definitely not a bear expert, but here are my thoughts. 😉
I keep the jar well sealed when not in use, and I would assume that the oil would be burned up in a matter of minutes once you’ve started the fire. As long as you are starting the fire in a place where you are allowed to start fires, I don’t see why there would be a problem. You’d just need to use common sense and store it away as you would the rest of your food when not using it.
Val
Love this idea! This solves two disposal problems in my house! Dryer lint and used cooking oil!
All my dryer lint seems to crawl out of the laundry room garbage and become giant dust bunnies…now I will start putting the lint in a large mason jar by the dryer. I don’t use a lot of oil, and obviously you can’t put oil down the drain, but if I put it in the garbage the dogs go crazy trying get it. Now when the oil is cool enough, I will just add to the mason jar. I like the idea of adding spices and dried herbs to the mix! I will be using the lint/oil fire starter for our outdoor grill for cooking. We live in hot, sunny Georgia, so not many fires in the fireplace!
Tracy Ariza
Lucky you! It’s a lot warmer here in the winter than it was living in Michigan, but the houses aren’t prepared for the cold and there is a lot of humidity. Long story short, I have my fireplace on almost daily all winter. We don’t have any sort of central heating, so I make do with what I have.
I hope it works well for you. You could always take it camping with you, if you like that sort of thing. 😉
Rocky
I do this to keep garbage from smelling or leaking an makeing a smelly mess…rinse all cans etc. Before putting in garbage..if u have anything that can smell or leak like oil or grease.or food wrappers that u cannt rinse.i put all that in the freezer till garbage day then just clean out freezer an take garbage to dump
Catherine
Hello, and thank you so much for this!
I’m curious if we can mix different cooking oils and if there are any you don’t recommend using at all?
Tracy Ariza
Hi Catherine,
I’ve mixed oils with no problems at all. You really just need the fat from the oils, so I don’t really think it matters. I can’t think of any reason that there would be any cooking oils that you should avoid.
Shirley
What if you added some spice to the mix and upped the pleasure of the resulting fire? It would be similar to adding scented oil, but I think the pieces of spice would burn longer, making the scent last longer. I love that you are thinking of ways to make use of stuff others would throw away to solve problems of life. Keep it up. The more we do now to take care of the earth, the less there will be to do when we are cleaning up and making the whole place a paradise after the end of this system.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Shirley,
I think that’s a great idea if you have an open fire where you can appreciate the scent. It would also help mask any unpleasant odors from used cooking oil from foods like fish or other similar foods with strong scents. In my case, I have an enclosed fireplace insert, so the door is sealed shut when the fire is going, and I can’t really smell anything inside, whether it smells nice or not. I did like trying to add scents to the old, open fireplace, though. 🙂
Thank you very much for your comment/idea. I’m in full agreement with you!
One Christmas somebody gave me chemical fire-starters as a small stocking stuffer type gesture, and you can perhaps imagine how difficult it was for me to humbly accept the gift with a smile and thank you. I think I ended up giving it away to somebody else because I couldn’t bring myself to use them. Ha!
Brenda Altman
That gives me an idea. For months I have been saving my toilet paper rolls and what I do is fold one of the long ways, then fold it again and insert it into one of the other rolls. You can get app, 5 rolls into one, depending on how tight you want it packed. Then what I was going to do was drizzle some wax down through the openings, but, now I think maybe I will try putting some lint in each of the rolls before folding them and inserting them into the other roll. I don’t think I will add oil. Not sure if you really need it. Lint is already very ignitable, so, not sure if that messy and dangerous oil is needed and you really cant store these in a jar like you can just the lint.. The only thing I can think of that may be a reason for the oil is that possibly it makes it last longer, not sure. I may have to test that. lol. If so, then what you may could do is not add the oil til you get ready to use one. Keep a bottle of the old oil nearby and when you need to use one, drizzle the oil on it then. Just a thought.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Brenda,
Thanks for your comment!
In my experience, lint on its own wasn’t as quick/easy to light, and, as you mentioned, it doesn’t last as long nor does it give as high of a flame. Of course, if you were to combine it with the cardboard of the toilet paper rolls, that might give it extra time/height to the flame. In the winter here I have to light my fireplace almost daily. The houses aren’t really prepared for the cold, and we only have (expensive) electricity for heating other than the fireplace. That’s why I looked for something as simple and compact as I could find. It’s been working out well for me.
I applaud your use of something you would normally throw away/recycle, though. I’m always looking for new ideas.
I once tried using toilet paper tubes with lint and wax. They worked well, but when I realized it was a lot of unnecessary (and messy) work, and they took up so much space, I started with the jar of lint. It takes up so little room, and I really only need a tiny piece each time to get the fire started.
I’d love to hear how your experiments go if you give your idea a try! 🙂
Susan
We made fire starters in Girl Scouts 50 years ago. Tuna can with rolled up corrugated cardboard soaked w wax. I assume oil will work too
Tracy Ariza
Hi Susan,
That sounds like a great fire starter for a campground.
I have to assume that usually wax is used for campground settings because it is a lot less messy for traveling, and it is resistant to water. At home, I have my jar of oily lint in a sealed container, but I did get some water in it once, and that batch of lint no longer worked, of course. If you use wax, you can just pour the water off. For me at home, this method is a lot less messy and more frugal, but I get why wax is used a lot of the time.
Kelley
We don’t have a lot of dryer lint as it’s only me and my husband (& I’m OCD about using the clothes line). However, we do enjoy beer, leaving us with beer boxes.
We cut the boxes in 1×4 inch strips, fold them as small as possible, then dip them in wax for fire starters.
I love the idea of using old cooking oil & will try it next time. Thanks!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Kelley,
Good for you!
I should be better about line drying more, but when we lived in an apartment I had to line dry everything and I was super excited to get a dryer again. My hung clothes were always so crunchy, and I was really lazy about having to hang up socks. haha 🙂
I try to live a green life, but that is definitely an area where I fall short. At least I find a use for the leftover lint, right?
Using the boxes is a great idea. I would imagine that using them with oil would work too. I’d love to hear how it goes.
Wendy
Great idea! I am going to try this and add a bit of scented oil to the old oil, which invariably smells like, well, old oil. 🙂
Tracy Ariza
Haha, yes.
Great idea.
I have a closed fireplace and can’t smell it at all, so it’s not a problem in my case, but it’s true that the container smells a bit like french fries when I open it. 🙂
Bev @ The Make Your Own Zone
I always enjoy reading resourceful solutions like this 🙂 I’ve always made the firestarters with wax in the egg cartons too but if I’m ever out of wax, I’ll remember this money saving alternate method.
Tracy Ariza
Hi, Bev, it’s great to hear from you!
Ha, yes, I still have a few of those left. I saved them for days that my wood is wet and difficult to light up because they are bigger and do last a little bit longer. For most days, though, I really prefer to use the new method, not just because it’s easier to make these, but because I prefer having a pretty jar filled with the lint and oil next to the fireplace than trying to find a place to hide away all of the egg cartons. 😉 They have worked really well for me so far.
Megan Stevens
LOVE THIS!!! Thanks for sharing, will do!!! 🙂